Key telephone apparatus with [automatic] call distribution function

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a key telephone apparatus which includes a key telephone main unit which accommodates a plurality of extension terminals each having a display via extensions and is connected to a network via an office line, and has an ACD function of forming a group of the plurality of extension terminals, and selectively distributing an incoming call received from the network to the plurality of extension terminals belonging to the group to receive the incoming call. The key telephone main unit includes a processing condition management unit for monitoring the processing condition of the incoming call by the automatic call distribution function, and storing data indicating the processing condition, and a display control unit for receiving a predetermined processing condition display request output from one of the plurality of extension terminals, generating display data for displaying the data indicating the processing condition stored in the processing condition management unit, and supplying the display data to the extension terminal as the display request source to be displayed on the display of the extension terminal.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/917,556, filed Aug.26, 1997, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/518,711,filed Aug. 24, 1995, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,909.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an improvement in a key telephoneapparatus comprising an ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) function.

2. Description of the Related Art

As is well known, in recent years, digital key telephone apparatuseswith an ACD function have become popular. In the ACD function, aplurality of extension terminals constitute a single ACD group, andincoming calls from a network corresponding to the ACD group are equallydistributed to the plurality of extension terminals constitute a singleACD group, and incoming calls from a network corresponding to the ACDgroup are equally distributed to the plurality of extension terminals inthe ACD group. With this ACD function, a digital key telephone apparatuscan prevent incoming calls from being concentrated on a specificextension terminal, and can efficiently process incoming calls.

In this case, one representative number is normally assigned to a singleACD group. For this reason, the calling party dials this representativenumber to call a target extension terminal in the ACD group.

In such a digital key telephone apparatus with the ACD function, asupervisor is set in advance in the ACD group, and monitors, e.g., theprocessing conditions of incoming calls to the extension terminals inthe ACD group. Based on the monitor result, the supervisor assists anincoming call processing job to be executed by, e.g., an agent of theACD group, and manages the operating condition of the digital keytelephone apparatus.

However, conventional monitor means, which is used by the supervisor tomonitor the ACD group, is realized by connecting an informationmanagement apparatus comprising, e.g., a personal computer to the mainunit of the digital key telephone apparatus via a special-purposeconnection unit. The supervisor acquires and totalizes informationrequired for monitoring from the main unit of the digital key telephoneapparatus by operating the information management apparatus, and managesthe ACD function on the basis of the totalized result.

For this reason, in the conventional digital key telephone apparatuswith the monitor means of the ACD function, since the informationmanagement apparatus and its special-purpose connection unit must beseparately equipped, the system size and cost increase. In addition, aspecial-purpose program, control data, and the like must be input to theinformation management apparatus prior to its use, and a complicatedoperation procedure is required to start its operation. For this reason,since the supervisor is required of skills and expert knowledge, theload on the supervisor becomes heavy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of the abovesituation, and has as its object to provide a key telephone apparatuswith an automatic call distribution function, which can realize a simpleand compact arrangement, can reduce cost, and can greatly reduce theload on a supervisor by simplifying its operation, since it does notrequire any information management apparatus and its connection unit.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided akey telephone apparatus which comprises a plurality of extensionterminals each having a display, and a key telephone main unit whichaccommodates the plurality of extension terminals via extensions and isconnected to a network via an office line, and has an automatic calldistribution function of forming a group of the plurality of extensionterminals, and selectively distributing an incoming call received fromthe network to the plurality of extension terminals belonging to thegroup to receive the incoming call,

the key telephone main unit comprising:

processing condition management means for monitoring a processingcondition of the incoming call by the automatic call distributionfunction, and storing data indicating the processing condition; and

display control means for receiving a predetermined processing conditiondisplay request output from one of the plurality of extension terminals,generating display data for displaying the data indicating theprocessing condition stored in the processing condition managementmeans, and supplying the display data to the extension terminal as thedisplay request source to be displayed on the display of the extensionterminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a key telephoneapparatus with the ACD function according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed functional arrangement ofa central control unit in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the control procedure and the controlcontents of an operation monitor mode in the central control unit;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the control procedure and the controlcontents in the former half of an ACD total display mode in the centralcontrol unit;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the control procedure and the controlcontents in the latter half of the ACD total display mode in the centralcontrol unit;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the memory map of a memory for storingvarious counts associated with ACD call termination in the embodimentshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the memory map of a memory for storingACD call termination queue states and their queue times in units ofoffice lines in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the display order and the display formatused when various counts, queue states, and queue times stored in thememories are displayed on a display of an extension terminal of asupervisor;

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the display format used when an agentreceives a call during the display operation of the queue time;

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining the display format used when anincoming call is stopped during the display operation of the queue time;

FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining the layout of a display andvarious operation keys arranged on a key telephone set serving as anextension terminal; and

FIGS. 12A to 12C are views for explaining the display formats of adisplay in operations for performing log-in of a key telephone set tothe ACD function.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detailsbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows thearrangement of the overall digital key telephone apparatus to bedescribed in this embodiment. The digital key telephone apparatuscomprises a central control unit 1, a key telephone control unit 2, anoffice line control unit 3, and data and speech highways 4 and 5 fortransferring data and speech information among these units 1, 2, and 3.

Of these units, the key telephone control unit 2 is connected to aplurality of key telephone sets DKTl to DKTn via extension ILl to ILn.The key telephone control unit 2 controls call origination andtermination of the key telephone sets DKTl to DKTn on the basis of aninstruction output from the central control unit 1. Each of these keytelephone sets DKTl to DKTn is a digital key telephone set, andcomprises a liquid crystal display DISP for displaying the telephonenumber of a station on the other end of the line and various kinds ofinformation output from the central control unit 1.

The office line control unit 3 is connected to subscribers lines SLl toSLm of a public network (not shown) or extensions of a private branchexchange (to be generally referred to as office lines SLl to SLmhereinafter). The office line control unit 3 controls call originationand termination with respect to the public network or the private branchexchange.

FIG. 2 shows the detailed functional arrangement of the central controlunit 1. The central control unit 1 is constituted by four controlsystems, i.e., a speech communication control system, a datatransmission control system, an office line/terminal control system, andan ACD control system. The speech communication control system comprisesa time switch (TSW) 11, a time switch controller 12, a speechcommunication controller 13, and a tone generator 14.

The speech communication control system exchanges speech datatransmitted on the speech highway 5 in such a manner that the timeswitch controller 12 controls the time switch 11 on the basis of aninstruction output from the speech communication controller 13. Notethat the tone generator 14 generates a tone signal used for informing,e.g., reception of an incoming call.

The data transmission control system is constituted by a datadetermination section 21, and a data output section 22. In this case,the data determination section 21 determines the type of datatransmitted on the data highway 4, and transfers the data to an officeline controller 23 or a terminal controller 26 (to be described later)on the basis of the determination result. The data output section 22outputs the data output from the office line controller 23 and theterminal controller 26 onto the data highway 4.

Furthermore, the office line/terminal control system is constituted bythe office line controller 23 with a data recognition section 23 a, astate memory section 24 connected to the office line controller 23, afunction setting/memory section 25, the terminal controller 26 with adata recognition section 26 a, and a state memory section 27 connectedto the terminal controller 26. Of these sections, the office linecontroller 23 is arranged to control the states of the office lines SLlto SLm. More specifically, in order to control the states of the officelines SLl to SLm, the office line controller 23 recognizes the contentsof control data transferred from the data determination section 21 usingthe data recognition section 23 a, generates required control data, andoutputs the data to the data output section 22. In this case, the statesof the office lines SLl to SLm are stored in the state memory section24.

The terminal controller 26 is arranged to control the states of the keytelephone sets DKTl to DKTn. More specifically, in order to control thestates of the key telephone sets DKTl to DKTn, the terminal controller26 recognizes the contents of control data transferred from the datadetermination section 21 using the data recognition section 26 a,generates required control data, and outputs the data to the data outputsection 22, like in the office line controller 23. In this case, thestates of the key telephone sets DKTl to DKTn are stored in the statememory section 27. Note that the function setting/memory section 25stores data indicating whether or not the ACD function is set for theoffice lines SLl to SLm.

The ACD control system is constituted by an ACD function controller 31,an ACD state memory section 32 connected to the ACD function controller31, a count memory section 33 for storing an ACD termination count, aqueue time controller 34 for measuring an ACD termination queue time, anincoming line controller 35 for controlling ACD-terminated office linesSLl to SLm, a supervisor controller 36, a speech communication totaldisplay controller 37, a state display controller 38, a display datagenerator 39, an agent controller 40, and a state memory section 41 forstoring the state of an agent.

The ACD operation of the digital key telephone apparatus with theabove-mentioned arrangement will be explained below. Assume that anincoming call is received from the public network via one of the officelines SLl to SLm in a standby state. The incoming call is detected bythe office line control unit 3, and is informed to the office linecontroller 23 of the central control unit 1 via the data highway 4. Theoffice line controller 23 checks if one, through which the incoming callis received, of the office lines SLl to SLm is an ACD-registered officeline. If the office line through which the incoming call is received isan ACD-registered office line, a message indicating this is informed tothe ACD function controller 31.

In this case, the ACD function controller 31 supplies a messageindicating that an incoming call is generated on an ACD-registeredoffice line to the incoming line controller 35. The incoming linecontroller 35 increments the ACD call termination count stored in thecount memory section 33, and stores the incremented ACD call terminationcount in the count memory section 33. The ACD function controller 31instructs the agent controller 40 to execute ACD call terminationcontrol, so that the agent of an ACD-registered extension receives thecall.

The agent controller 40 searches for an extension of an agent which canreceive the call. If the detected extension is ACD-registered, the agentcontroller 40 supplies an instruction to the terminal controller 26 viathe ACD function controller 31 to control the extension to receive thecall. As a result, the terminal controller 26 generates a calltermination signal. The call termination signal is transferred from thedata output section 22 to the key telephone sets DKTl to DKTn of theagent via the data highway 4. For this reason, the key telephone setsDKTl to DKTn inform reception of an incoming call.

When the agent answers to the information, the answer response istransmitted to the ACD function controller 31 of the central controlunit 1 via the key telephone control unit 2, and is then transmittedfrom the ACD function controller 31 to the incoming line controller 35.The incoming line controller 35 increments the total value of ACD calltermination answer counts by the agent, and stores the incremented valuein the count memory section 33.

On the other hand, when the ACD function controller 31 determines thatit is possible to attain ACD call termination for, e.g., the reason thatthe searched agent is not ACD-registered, the ACD function controller 31instructs the office line controller 23 to execute predeterminedoverflow processing, and this processing is executed. In this case, theACD function controller 31 supplies information indicating that non-ACDfunction processing is executed to the incoming line controller 35. Theincoming line controller 35 increments the total value of non-ACDfunction processing counts, and stores the incremented value in thecount memory section 33.

When the searched agent is ACD-registered but cannot receive the callfor, e.g., the reason that the agent is busy, the ACD functioncontroller 31 instructs the incoming line controller 35 to set theoffice line (incoming line) corresponding to the generated incoming callin a call termination queue state. In response to this instruction, theincoming line controller 35 sets the incoming line in the calltermination queue state, and controls the queue time controller 34 tobegin measurement of the queue time.

Thereafter, when the ACD function controller 31 recognizes that theagent is ready to receive the call, the ACD function controller 31instructs the incoming line controller 35 to execute call terminationprocessing. Thus, the incoming line controller 35 executes calltermination processing for the key telephone set as a call terminationdestination. Simultaneously with the execution of the call terminationprocessing, the incoming line controller 35 controls the queue timecontroller 34 to stop the measurement of the queue time.

When the supervisor monitors the execution condition of theabove-mentioned ACD function, a special operation for requesting aspeech communication total display must be performed using theACD-registered key telephone set. When this special operation isperformed, as shown in FIG. 3, the control of the ACD functioncontroller 31 advances from the processing is step 3 a to the processingin step 3 b, and the key telephone set at which the special operationwas performed is set in an ACD speech communication total display mode.Thereafter, an ACD speech communication total display operation isexecuted.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the control procedure and control contents of the anACD speech communication total display operation. In step 4 a, the ACDfunction controller 31 reads out the current ACD call termination count,the ACD call termination answer count by the agent, the non-ACD functionprocessing count, and the current ACD call termination queue state linecount from the count memory section 33, and supplies these count dataand a display data generation instruction to the display data generator39 via the speech communication total display controller 37. Note thatthe count memory section 33 stores the ACD call termination count, theACD call termination answer count by the agent, the non-ACD functionprocessing count, and the current ACD call termination queue state linecount using the memory map shown in FIG. 6.

The ACD call termination count, the agent ACD call termination responsecount, the non-ACD call termination processing count, and the ACD calltermination queue state line count shown in FIG. 6 are defined asfollows.

ACD Call Termination Count:

a call termination processing count by the system for the ACD functionon the basis of the function setting (regardless of the response ornon-response by the agent).

Agent ACD Call Termination Response Count:

a call termination response (processing) count by the agent upon calltermination processing to the agent by the ACD function.

Non-ACD Call Termination Processing Count:

a non-ACD functional processing count by the system without any calltermination response by the agent although ACD call terminationprocessing is performed (including a processing count which is discardedby the sender during the queue state of call termination to the agent).

ACD Call Termination Queue State Line Count:

a line count representing lines waiting for call termination since atarget agent is in a queue state or the like to disable immediate calltermination although ACD call termination processing is performed.

The display data generator 39 generates initial screen data fordisplaying the respective count data, and transfers this display data tothe terminal controller 26. The display data is supplied from theterminal controller 26 to the key telephone set, at which the specialoperation was performed, via the data output section 22, and isdisplayed on the liquid crystal display DISP of the key telephone set.Therefore, the supervisor can confirm the execution condition of the ACDfunction on the basis of the count data displayed on the liquid crystaldisplay DISP of the key telephone set.

When the ACD call termination count, for example, changes during thedisplay operation of the count data, the control of the ACD functioncontroller 31 returns from the processing in step 4 b to the processingin step 4 a. More specifically, the ACD function controller 31 instructsthe speech communication total display controller 37 to update (refresh)the displayed contents. The speech communication total displaycontroller 37 reads out new count data from the count memory section 33,and transfers them to the display data generator 39. The display datagenerator 39 generates updated display screen data on the basis of theinput new count data. The updated display screen data is supplied fromthe terminal controller 26 to the key telephone set, at which thespecial operation was performed, via the data output section 22, and isdisplayed on the liquid crystal display DISP of the key telephone set.Therefore, the supervisor can always confirm the latest count data.

When the supervisor wants to know the condition of the call terminationqueue lines in more detail, the supervisor executes a display changingoperation at the key telephone set. The ACD function controller 31detects this display changing operation in step 4 c, and its controladvances to the processing in step 4 e. In step 4 e, the controller 31confirms the presence of any call termination queue lines. When thepresence of any call termination queue lines is confirmed, the ACDfunction controller 31 instructs the supervisor controller 36 to changethe display mode. In response to the display mode changing instruction,the supervisor controller 36 fetches the office line numbers in the calltermination queue state from the incoming line controller 35 via the ACDfunction controller 31, and outputs a display instruction of dataassociated with the call termination queue lines to the speechcommunication total display controller 37 via the ACD functioncontroller 31.

Upon reception of this display instruction, the speech communicationtotal display controller 37 supplies the call termination queue linenumbers to the queue time controller 34 in step 5 a to read out theoffice line number of the office line corresponding to the longest queuetime and its queue time from the queue time controller 34. For example,assume that the queue time controller 34. For example, assume that thequeue time controller 34 is measuring the call termination queue timesof the respective office lines, as shown in FIG. 7. In this state, sincethe office line number SLl is determined as the office linecorresponding to the longest queue time, the office line number SLl andits queue time data “15 seconds” are read out from the queue timecontroller 34.

Thereafter, in step 5 b, the speech communication total displaycontroller 37 switches a display ON flag corresponding to the determinedoffice line number SLl among the queue time data held in the queue timecontroller 34 to the ON state, as shown in FIG. 7. The speechcommunication total display controller 37 transfers data indicating theoffice line number SLl and its queue time to the display data generator39 in step 5 c. The display data generator 39 generates display screendata for displaying the above data, and transfers this display screendata to the terminal controller 26. For this reason, the display screendata is supplied to the key telephone set of the supervisor via the dataoutput section 22, and is displayed on the liquid crystal display DISPof the key telephone set.

Assume that the supervisor performs another display changing operationduring the display operation of the data associated with the calltermination queue lines. The ACD function controller 31 detects thisoperation in step 5 d, and its control advances to the processing instep 5 i. More specifically, the ACD function controller 31 switches thedisplay ON flag, which corresponds the office line number SLl and hasbeen switched to the ON state, to the OFF state. Thereafter, the ACDfunction controller 31 checks in step 5 j all the office lines in thecall termination queue state if the display operations of dataindicating their office line numbers and their queue times arecompleted.

If any non-displayed office line remains, the control of the ACDfunction controller 31 returns to the processing in step 5 a. In step 5a, the speech communication total display controller 37 selects theoffice line corresponding to the second longest queue time from thequeue time controller 34, and reads out the office line number and queuetime of the selected office line. Then, the controller 37 outputs thesedata to the display data generator 39. The display data generator 39generates display screen data for displaying the input data, andtransfers the display screen data to the terminal controller 26. Thus,the display screen data is supplied from the terminal controller 26 tothe key telephone set of the supervisor via the data output section 22,and is displayed on the liquid crystal display DISP of the key telephoneset.

Thereafter, each time the supervisor performs a display changingoperation at the key telephone set, data of the office line number andits queue time are read out from the queue time controller 34 in unitsof longer queue time, are supplied to the key telephone set, and aredisplayed on the liquid crystal display DISP. Therefore, when there area plurality of office lines in the call termination queue state, thesupervisor can confirm the office line numbers and their queue times inthe queue state which are scroll-displayed in the order of longer queuetimes by executing the display changing operation at the key telephoneset. When the liquid crystal display DISP has a large display capacity,data of a plurality of office lines in the call termination queue statecan be simultaneously displayed.

Since the call termination queue time changes every moment, the controlof the speech communication total display controller 37 returns from theprocessing in step 5 g to the processing in step 5 d at a predeterminedtime interval during the display operation of the queue time associatedwith one call termination queue line, and the controller 37 updates thevalue of the displayed queue time. When the queue state of the linecorresponding to the displayed queue time is canceled, the control ofthe ACD function controller 31 advances from the processing in step 5 fto the processing in step 5 h.

More specifically, the ACD function controller 31 controls the incomingline controller 35 to clear the queue time of the corresponding officeline stored in the queue time controller 34. The ACD function controller31 supplies state change information to the speech communication totaldisplay controller 37. Upon reception of this information, the speechcommunication total display controller 37 instructs the display datagenerator 39 to display a changed state. For this reason, state changedisplay data is supplied to the key telephone set of the supervisor, andis displayed on the liquid crystal display DISP of the key telephoneset.

In this manner, when the display operations of data associated with allthe call termination queue lines are completed, the control of the ACDfunction controller 31 returns from the processing in step 5 j to theprocessing in step 4 a, and executes a display operation of ACD calltermination total data as initial screen data. When the supervisorperforms a display end operation at the key telephone set in the displaystate of the ACD call termination total data, the control of the ACDfunction controller 31 advances from the processing in step 5 e to theprocessing in step 5 k, and the controller 31 cancels the total displaymode set in the key telephone set, thus ending the control in a seriesof ACD total display modes.

FIG. 8 shows examples of the displayed contents on the liquid crystaldisplay DISP when the supervisor performs a special operation forrequesting a speech communication total display operation at a keytelephone set. When this special operation is performed, the keytelephone set is set in the ACD speech communication total display mode.The liquid crystal display DISP simultaneously displays an ACD calltermination count CLC, an ACD call termination answer count ANS, anon-ACD function processing count OTR, and an ACD call termination queueline count CLW, as shown in display pattern 1 in FIG. 8. In the exampleshown in FIG. 8, CLC=40, ANS=25, OTR=10, and CLW=5.

When the supervisor performs the display changing operation in theabove-mentioned display state of the count data, the liquid crystaldisplay DISP is switched to display the office line number, LINE001, ofan office line corresponding to the longest call termination queue timeand its queue time “00:05:30”, as shown in display pattern 2 in FIG. 8.Thereafter, the liquid crystal display DISP sequentially displays dataof the office line numbers in the queue state and queue times in theorder of longer queue time every time the supervisor performs a displaychanging operation. When the supervisor performs another displaychanging operation in a state wherein the office line number, LINE040,of an office line corresponding to the shortest call termination queuetime and its queue time “00:01:15” are display, as shown in displaypattern m in FIG. 8, the display state of the liquid crystal displayDISP is returned to that shown in display pattern 1.

For example, when the office line is set in the agent call terminationstate in a state wherein the office line number LINE001 and its queuetime “00:05:30” are displayed, as shown in, e.g., display pattern 1, thedisplay state of the liquid crystal display DISP is switched to the oneshown in FIG. 9, and information indicating that the call termination isattained and the queue time measured are displayed. Furthermore, whenthe office line is set in a call stop state in a state wherein theoffice line number LINE001 and its queue time “00:05:30” are displayed,as shown in, e.g., display pattern 1, the display state of the liquidcrystal display DISP is switched to the one shown in FIG. 10, andinformation indicating that the call termination is canceled and thequeue time measured are displayed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the control system forthe ACD total display operation, which includes the ACD functioncontroller 31 as a main section, is arranged in the central control unit1. Every time an ACD incoming call is received, the call terminationcount, the incoming call answer count by the agent, the call terminationqueue state line count, and the like are stored, and when a displayrequest is input from the key telephone set, the stored count data aretransferred to the key telephone set to display the data on the liquidcrystal display DISP. Furthermore, when a display changing operation isperformed at the key telephone set in this state, the number and queuetime of the call termination queue line are transferred to the keytelephone set to be displayed thereon.

For this reason, the supervisor can confirm data representing theprocessing condition of the ACD function on the liquid crystal displayDISP of an arbitrary key telephone set. Thus, since an independentinformation management apparatus need not be connected to the main unitof the key telephone apparatus via a special-purpose connection unitunlike in the conventional apparatus, a simple and compact systemarrangement of the key telephone apparatus can be realized, and its costcan also be reduced. Since no complicated start operation of theapparatus is required unlike in a case wherein the informationmanagement apparatus is used, the load of the operation on thesupervisor can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, even a supervisor whohas neither skills nor expert knowledge can easily use the key telephoneapparatus.

FIG. 11 shows the outer appearance of the key telephone set. A key 42 isassigned as a display change key. More specifically, when the key 42 isoperated in a state wherein information representing, e.g., a line in acall termination queue state is displayed on a liquid crystal displayDISP, the display change operation shown in FIG. 8 is performed. Whenthe key telephone set is set in a normal mode, the key 42 has anotherfunction.

An operation for performing log-in of the key telephone set in thenormal mode to the ACD function as the agent or supervisor will bedescribed below. During the normal queue state of the key telephone set,a LOG IN key 43 or an extension key 44 is operated, and a special dial(e.g., #4031) is input. The key telephone set is then set in a passwordinput queue state, and a message shown in FIG. 12A is displayed on theliquid crystal display DISP.

When a password is input to the key telephone set, the terminalcontroller 26 compares the input password with the supervisor or agentpassword prestored in the function setting/memory section 25. As aresult of this comparison, when the ACD log-in as the agent isconfirmed, the terminal controller 26 informs the ACD functioncontroller 31 of the agent log-in, and a message shown in FIG. 12B isdisplayed on the liquid crystal display DISP of the log-in key telephoneset. As a result of the above comparison, if ACD function log-in as thesupervisor is confirmed, the terminal controller 26 informs the ACDfunction controller 31 of the supervisor log-in to ACD function, and amessage shown in FIG. 12C is displayed on the liquid crystal displayDISP of the log-in key telephone set.

If the log-in is of an agent, the ACD function controller 31 havingreceived the information representing log-in to the ACD function informsthe agent controller 40 of the agent log-in, and the agent state isstored in the state memory section 41. If the log-in is of a supervisor,the ACD function controller 31 informs the supervisor controller 36 ofthe supervisor log-in. By the above operations, the corresponding keytelephone set operates on the ACD function in accordance with a log-instate.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and thevarious changes and modifications may be made with the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A call distribution system which comprises, aplurality of extension terminals, at least one of which has a display,and a main unit connectable to the plurality of extension terminals viaextensions and connectable to a network via an office line, and whichhas a call distribution function of grouping the plurality of extensionterminals and distributing incoming calls received from the network tothe plurality of extension terminals belonging to groups to receive theincoming calls, said main unit comprising: processing conditionmanagement means for monitoring a processing condition of the incomingcalls, and storing data indicating the processing condition of theincoming call; and display control means for receiving a predeterminedprocessing condition display request output from said at least oneextension terminal included in the plurality of extension terminalsconstituting a group, generating display data for displaying the datawhich is requested with the processing condition display request andthus retrieved from the data indicating the processing condition andstored in said processing condition management means, and supplying thedisplay data to said at least one extension terminal so that the displaydata is displayed on the display of said at least one extensionterminal.
 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said processingcondition management means further comprises a function of measuring acall termination queue time of an incoming call when the incoming callis set in a call termination queue state by said call distributionfunction.
 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said displaycontrol means is switched to sequentially display office line numbersand queue times thereof in the order of longer call termination queuetimes measured by said processing condition management means every timea display changing operation is performed for the extension terminal asthe display request source.
 4. The system according to claim 1, whereinevery time processing for a new incoming call is performed by said calldistribution function, said processing condition management meansupdates the stored data indicating the processing condition incorrespondence with the processing contents.
 5. The system according toclaim 4, wherein when the stored contents of said processing conditionmanagement means are updated during a display operation, said displaycontrol means generates display data on the basis of the updated newstored contents.
 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein saidprocessing condition management means includes a function of totalizingprocessing counts of incoming calls by said call distribution functionin units of processing contents and storing the total data, and afunction of measuring a call termination queue time of an incoming callwhen the incoming call is set in a call termination queue state by saidcall distribution function, and said display control means isalternately switched between a mode for displaying the total datatotalized by said processing condition management means and a mode fordisplaying the call termination queue time measured by said processingcondition management means every time a display changing operation isperformed for the extension terminal as the display request source. 7.The system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one extensionterminal further comprises: first key input means for setting said atleast one extension terminal in a password input state; second key inputmeans for inputting a password when said at least one extension terminalis set in a password input state by the first key input means; andcomparing means for comparing the password input by the second key inputmeans with a preset password, and said at least one extension terminalallows said processing condition display request when said comparingmeans determines that the password matches with the preset password. 8.The system according to claim 7, wherein the display of said at leastone extension terminal switches between a first display mode indicatingthat said at least one extension terminal is set in the password inputstate and a second display mode indicating that a result of comparisonis being provided by said comparing means.
 9. A call distribution systemwhich comprises a plurality of extension terminals, at least one ofwhich has a display, and a main unit connectable to the plurality ofextension terminals via extensions and connected to a network via anoffice line, and which has a call distribution function of grouping theplurality of extension terminals and distributing incoming callsreceived from the network to the plurality of extension terminalsbelonging to groups to receive the incoming calls, said main unitcomprising: processing condition management means for storing dataindicating the number of incoming call; and display control means forreceiving a predetermined processing condition display request outputfrom said at least one extension terminal included in the plurality ofextension terminals constituting a group, generating display data fordisplaying the data indicating the number of incoming calls which isstored by said processing condition management means, and supplying thedisplay data to said at least one extension terminal so that the displaydata is displayed on the display of said at least one extensionterminal.
 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein every timeprocessing for a new incoming call is performed by said calldistribution function, said processing condition management meansupdates the stored data indicating the processing condition incorrespondence with the processing contents.
 11. The system according toclaim 9, wherein said processing condition management means includes afunction of totalizing processing counts of incoming calls by said calldistribution function in units of processing contents and storing thetotal data, and a function of measuring a call termination queue time ofan incoming call when the incoming call is set in a call terminationqueue state by said call distribution function, and said display controlmeans is alternately switched between a mode for displaying the totaldata totalized by said processing condition management means and a modefor displaying the call termination queue time measured by saidprocessing condition management means every time a display changingoperation is performed for the extension terminal as the display requestsource.
 12. A call distribution system which comprises a plurality ofextension terminals, at least one of which has a display, and a mainunit connectable to the plurality of extension terminals via extensionsand connectable to a network via an office line, and which has a calldistribution function of grouping the plurality of extension terminalsand selectively distributing incoming calls received from the network tothe plurality of extension terminals belonging to groups to receive theincoming calls, said main unit comprising: processing conditionmanagement means for storing data indicating the number of answers tothe incoming calls; and display control means for receiving apredetermined processing condition display request output from said atleast one extension terminal included in the plurality of extensionterminals constituting a group, generating display data for displayingthe data indicating the number of answers which is stored by saidprocessing condition management means, and supplying the display data tosaid at least one extension terminal so that the display data isdisplayed on the display of said at least one extension terminal. 13.The system according to claim 12, wherein every time processing for anew incoming call is performed by said call distribution function, saidprocessing condition management means updates the stored data indicatingthe processing condition in correspondence with the processing contents.14. The system according to claim 12, wherein said processing conditionmanagement means includes a function of totalizing processing counts ofincoming calls in units of processing contents and storing the totaldata, and a function of measuring a call termination queue time of anincoming call when the incoming call is set in a call termination queuestate by said call distribution function, and said display control meansis alternately switched between a mode for displaying the total datatotalized by said processing condition management means and a mode fordisplaying the call termination queue time measured by said processingcondition management means every time a display changing operation isperformed for the extension terminal as the display request source. 15.A call distribution system which comprises a plurality of extensionterminals, at least one of which has a display, and a main unitconnectable to the plurality of extension terminals via extensions andconnectable to a network via an office line, and which has a calldistribution function of grouping the plurality of extension terminalsand distributing incoming calls received from the network to theplurality of extension terminals belonging to groups to receive theincoming calls, said main unit comprising: processing conditionmanagement means for storing data indicating the number of times ofprocessing incoming calls other than the incoming calls distributed bysaid call distribution function; display control means for receiving apredetermined processing condition display request output from said atleast one extension terminal included in the plurality of extensionterminals constituting a group, generating display data for displayingthe data indicating the number of the times of processing which isstored by said processing condition management means, and supplying thedisplay data to said at least one extension terminal so that the displaydata is displayed on the display of said at least one extensionterminal.
 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein every timeprocessing for a new incoming call is performed by said calldistribution function, said processing condition management meansupdates the stored data indicating the processing condition incorrespondence with the processing contents.
 17. The system according toclaim 15, wherein said processing condition management means includes afunction of totalizing processing counts of incoming calls in units ofprocessing contents and storing the total data, and a function ofmeasuring a call termination queue time of an incoming call when theincoming call is set in a call termination queue state by said calldistribution function, and said display control means is alternatelyswitched between a mode for displaying the total data totalized by saidprocessing condition management means and a mode for displaying the calltermination queue time measured by said processing condition managementmeans every time a display changing operation is performed for theextension terminal as the display request source.
 18. A calldistribution system which comprises a plurality of extension terminals,at least one of which has a display, and a main unit connectable to theplurality of extension terminals via extensions and connectable to anetwork via an office line, and which has a call distribution functionof grouping the plurality of extension terminals and distributingincoming calls received from the network to the plurality of extensionterminals belonging to groups to receive the incoming calls, said mainunit comprising: processing condition management means for storing dataindicating the number of office lines set in a call termination queuestate by said call distribution function; and display control means forreceiving a predetermined processing condition display request outputfrom said at least one extension terminal included in the plurality ofextension terminals constituting a group, generating display data fordisplaying the data indicating the number of office lines which isstored by said processing condition management means, and supplying thedisplay data to said at least one extension terminal so that the displaydata is displayed on the display of said at least one extensionterminal.
 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein every timeprocessing for a new incoming call is performed by said calldistribution function, said processing condition management meansupdates the stored data indicating the processing condition incorrespondence with the processing contents.
 20. The system according toclaim 18, wherein said processing condition management means includes afunction of totalizing processing counts of incoming calls by said calldistribution function in units of processing contents and storing thetotal data, and a function of measuring a call termination queue time ofan incoming call when the incoming call is set in a call terminationqueue state by said call distribution function, and said display controlmeans is alternately switched between a mode for displaying the totaldata totalized by said processing condition management means and a modefor displaying the call termination queue time measured by saidprocessing condition management means every time a display changingoperation is performed for the extension terminal as the display requestsource.
 21. A call distribution system apparatus which comprises aplurality of extension terminals, at least one of which has a display,and a main unit connectable to the plurality of extension terminals viaextensions and connected to a network via an office line, and which hasa call distribution function of grouping the plurality of extensionterminals and distributing incoming calls received from the network tothe plurality of extension terminals belonging to groups to receive theincoming calls, said main unit comprising: processing conditionmanagement means for storing data indicating an office line number of anincoming call which is set in an agent call termination queue state bysaid call distribution function and data indicating a call terminationqueue time of the incoming call; first display control means forreceiving a predetermined processing condition display request outputfrom said at least one extension terminal included in the plurality ofextension terminals constituting a group, generating display data fordisplaying the data indicating the office line number and the dataindicating the call termination queue time which are stored by saidprocessing condition management means, and supplying the display data tosaid at least one extension terminal so that the display data isdisplayed on the display of said at least one extension terminal; andsecond display control means for switching the display data to datawhich indicates a call termination being made and a total calltermination queue time of the incoming call when said office line ischanged into an agent call termination state while the first displaycontrol means is displaying the office line number of the office lineset in the call termination queue state and the call termination queuetime on the display of said at least one extension terminal.
 22. Thesystem according to claim 21, wherein every time processing for a newincoming call is performed by said call distribution function, saidprocessing condition management means updates the stored data indicatingthe processing condition in correspondence with the processing contents.23. A call distribution system which comprises a plurality of extensionterminals, at least one of which has a display, and a main unitconnectable to the plurality of extension terminals via extensions andconnectable to a network via an office line and which has a calldistribution function of grouping the plurality of extension terminalsand distributing incoming calls received from the network to theplurality of extension terminals belonging to groups to receive theincoming calls, said main unit comprising: processing conditionmanagement means for storing data indicating an office line number of anincoming call which is set in an agent call termination queue state bysaid call distribution function and a call termination queue time of theincoming call; first display control means for receiving a predeterminedprocessing condition display request output from said at least oneextension terminal included in the plurality of extension terminalsconstituting a group, generating display data for displaying the dataindicating the office line number and the data indicating the calltermination queue time which are stored by said processing conditionmanagement means, and supplying the display data to said at least oneextension terminal so that the display data is displayed on the displayof said at least one extension terminal; and second display controlmeans for switching the display data to data which indicates a calltermination being canceled and a total call termination queue time ofthe incoming call when said office line is changed into a call stopstate while the first display control means is displaying the officeline number of the office line set in the call termination queue stateand the call termination queue time on the display of said at least oneextension terminal.
 24. The system according to claim 23, wherein everytime processing for a new incoming call is performed by said calldistribution function, said processing condition management meansupdates the stored data indicating the processing condition incorrespondence with the processing contents.
 25. A call distributionsystem which comprises a plurality of extension terminals, at least oneof which has a display, and a main unit connectable to the plurality ofextension terminals via extensions and connectable to a network via anoffice line, and which has a call distribution function of grouping theplurality of extension terminals and distributing incoming callsreceived from the network to the plurality of extension terminalsbelonging to groups to receive the incoming calls, said main unitcomprising: processing condition management means for monitoring aprocessing condition of the incoming calls, and storing data indicatingthe processing condition of the incoming call; and first display controlmeans for receiving a predetermined processing condition display requestoutput from said at least one extension terminal included in theplurality of extension terminals constituting a group, generatingdisplay data for displaying the data which is requested with theprocessing condition display request and thus retrieved from the dataindicating the processing condition and stored in said processingcondition management means, and supplying the display data to said atleast one extension terminal so that the display data is displayed onthe display of said at least one extension terminal; and second displaycontrol means for generating display data on the basis of the dataindicating new processing condition, and supply the updated display datato said at least one terminal at a predetermined time interval.
 26. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein said at least one extensionterminal includes: key input means for inputting a password; andcomparing means for comparing the password input by the key input meanswith a preset password, and said at least one extension terminal allowssaid processing condition display request when said comparing meansdetermines that the password matches with the preset password.